This can be interesting. It is possible that the seventh gen. I5 can have 4 cores and the UHD Graphics 630 which support hevc 4k/60p decode and encode. See this chart: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Graphics_Technology . The I7-4770 (Haswell) Graphics in that desktop has no hevc support and only 1080/60p h.264 support. You might be better off with your laptop.

Please read this sticky: https://forum.cyberlink.com/forum/posts/list/80133.page#post_box_329489 and attach a DxDiag.txt file on your laptop. We need to determine which i5 cpu it has and then can give an opinion on whether the desktop is better overall for your needs.

Thanks for your help!

I've attached the txt file.

Since my laptop is clearly underperforming whenever I use effects or enhancements, what's the best thing I can do with a $1000 budget?

Thanks again!

Quote Thanks for your help!

I've attached the txt file.

Since my laptop is clearly underperforming whenever I use effects or enhancements, what's the best thing I can do with a $1000 budget?

Thanks again!

What can you do? I don't know where you are, but in US, companies sell their used desktop workstations on eBay after as little as 3 years of use, maybe 5 years. You can get a decent workstation, with a video card appropiate for video editing (if there is a need for gaming, you can spend a little more). You will need a 24" (minimum IMO) monitor too, but those are on sale everywhere.

Example for a 12 core CPU, 32GB or RAM (with Quadro K410 that can be upgraded), for $600:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Precision-T5810-E5-2690-V3-12core-32GB-DDR4-K420-128GB-SSD-1TB-WIN10-WIFI/184122475079

Add an nVidia GTX 1660 Ti for about $200 and you have a super machine for video editing and 1080p gaming.

Thank you for the DxDiag.txt. It indicates that you have a problem with ParameterService.exe and you need to disable this service. See this answer from the MS Community: https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-performance/parameterservice-stopped-working/0fb3884d-4ddb-4836-b3fe-f4d365bdf586 and follow the link and explanation to fix this.

The i5-7200U in the Acer laptop is adequate for a passmark score 0f 3741. See this passmark page: https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Core+i5-7200U+%40+2.50GHz&id=2865 .

You want a cpu with a passmark score of say 10,000 or more as suggested by some users. See this page: https://www.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html . The i7-4770 is not close to it. The slim cases with anemic power suppies does not allow for expansion later.

This Cyberpower PC is well worth it in the $1000 budget: https://www.microcenter.com/product/610245/cyberpowerpc-game-master-gaming-computer . You can check that the passmark scores on the cpu and gpu and they are up there among the highest.

If you are comfortable with used pc’s, don’t care about 4K, and have the know how to configure or build one, then ebay can be your best bet to save a lot of money. Users in this forum have purchased used computers for 1080p editing from both amazon and ebay and are quite happy with them. You can buy a used graphics card later to save a lot of money too.

I agree with Tom. Your best bet is buying something modern. The PC you suggested in the first post is a 4th gen i7. That is quite old. We are on the 10th gen i7 in mobile and 9th gen i7 on the desktop. The Cyberpower PC tom recommended is good and you can easily upgrade the RAM to 16GB which would be benificial. Desktop computers have more space to disipate heat so they will naturally be more powerful than laptops in the same price range.

For now, lower your preview resolution to 720p. Full HD is 1080p and it requires a lot more horsepower. Most computer monitors, especially laptops, are so low resolution that you wouldn't even notice the difference.

If you feel comfortable with building your own desktop PC, I can give you a list of parts to fit your budget.

The CPU that I linked in the post above, inside a Dell workstation, has a PassMark of almost 19000. It was a $2000-2300 CPU until spring of last year.

https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Xeon+E5-2690+v3+%40+2.60GHz&id=2364

Thanks a lot for all your answers! I'll look into everything you guys shared.

I'm in the US. Ebay does seem like a good option. Also curtain, I'm definitely interested in a list of parts in my price range.

P.S : I never play video games, so this is solely for video editing.

Thanks!

I will be honest. My system works just great so I figured I'd just come here and recommend it. But reality has set in. It is nearly $1400.
I am always upgrading parts in my system so I have no clue the sum of the actual cost.

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/rr2h27

I actually use a different case but I do not recommend it. I made a video about it (below)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17TR7BE1VbY

Here is something that will get you nearly identical performance using less expensive parts. Storage is now 1TB rather than 3TB but you can always upgrade when you want.


https://pcpartpicker.com/list/Rc6kq3

AMD CPUs, particularly the Ryzen 3600 is the best bang for the buck but I've heard it doesn't play well with PD so I am sticking to Intel. AMD video cards do have problems with PD, I know from experience. Windows 10 licences can be had for $20 so I didn't include it in the builds above.

The OP certainly have a lot of good information here to digest and choose which is the best for him /her...

Just another tidbit about Windows 10 license. I was able to activate Windows 10 using the serials of Windows 7 found on the cases of used workstations or laptops that I had bought on eBay. Just check to see if they still have that sticker on.

Quote The OP certainly have a lot of good information here to digest and choose which is the best for him /her...

Yes, very helpful, thanks everyone.